Montague had chances to turn Friday night's game against North Muskegon into a close battle, but red-zone struggles kept the 'Cats from doing it. The Norsemen were able to pull away in the second half and tally a 36-8 win at Montague.
Montague (2-4) was 0-for-4 scoring points on red-zone drives, a stat that spells doom for virtually any team.
"We feel like we're pretty evenly matched with them, but the scoreboard doesn't say that," Montague coach Justin Dennett said. "We played them tough in the first half and two drives stalled on the goal line. It could've been a 14-14 game. In the second half, we had a little bit harder time moving the ball, but we were able to string a couple drives together. It kind of snowballed after we couldn't score in the red zone (those two times)."
The 'Cats at least capitalized on one of their missed first-half chances on the back end, scoring a safety late in the first quarter after being stopped at the one-yard line on offense. However, that was the last time they scored until the fourth quarter as the Norsemen piled up points. It was a 14-2 game at halftime before three straight touchdowns turned it into a rout.
"We had a pretty good game plan going in," Dennett said. "I do think we have a path to
being a successful offense. We just have to clean up some things, fix some missed assignments and take care of the ball a little bit better."
Eli Petersen hit Fletcher Thommen for a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to salvage a bright spot from the evening, ending his night with 172 passing yards plus 32 on the ground. Devlin Dean ran for 127 yards, Ryver Jarka had 71 receiving yards on seven catches, and Talan Degen led the defense with seven solo tackles.
The Wildcats will turn their attention to a homecoming game against Fremont. After the issues Montague had finishing drives Friday, Dennett said it will be a point of emphasis in practice this week.
"I think if we can start to do that a little better, we can have a successful week next week," Dennett said.
